tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post8773063535122516136..comments2024-02-11T15:29:31.409-05:00Comments on Richard's Pretension: That Has Such People in'tRichard Bellushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108081864942272619noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-24125357469513406552015-04-21T23:14:50.204-04:002015-04-21T23:14:50.204-04:00All around the world, political family dynasties a...All around the world, political family dynasties are surprisingly persistent, and 8% of global capitalization is run by relatives of political leaders. The US is no exception. According to the Economist you increase your odds of becoming a governor by 5000 times if your parent was one (Jerry Brown and Andrew Cuomo at the moment; there might be others -- I haven't checked all 50) and becoming a senator by 6000 times if your parent was one.There is nothing new about this. It is possible to join the elite from out of nowhere, but that's never easy.<br /><br />I imagine the sort of robot you describe is the kind of workaday device we're most likely to see in public. You already can buy the other kind (see truecompanion.com) though, at least for now, these are low-tech devices that are little more than talking dolls.Richard Bellushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10108081864942272619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1656921634940224775.post-21845511194967291852015-04-21T12:19:17.691-04:002015-04-21T12:19:17.691-04:00In Interstellar there's another type robot, mo...In Interstellar there's another type robot, more machine-like and less human, which to me seemed more how I would think they would be in the real world. It's non-gendered although had a male voice, and when I first saw it, I thought, how is that going to work (as far as motivation and walking). But Nolan made it all work pretty well--at least enough to suspend my disbelief.<br /><br />The thing about oligarchy is it seems they enjoy hedonism as much as the common man although they try hard to cover it up. That is until they're caught with their pants down. And it's funny how hard at least some of them try (GOP) try to maintain order by steering us away from hedonism. Eerily though it does seem that oligarchy has become the new norm, so has consumerism, drugs, and other things to opiate the masses into non-think. El Voxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05985563041511492981noreply@blogger.com